The rampant growth of computer video games has become a worry for parents
theSun,Tue, 13 Jan 2009
COMPUTER and video gaming has become one of the top pasttimes among children these days, which has resulted in constant conflicting views among the gaming industry, researchers, educators and parents - mainly about the pros and cons.
There are many games and activities that are educational, that help children learn and develop. They complement what a child learns in school in an interactive and fun way. I guess that is why some refer to it as ‘edutainment’.
Besides complementing lessons in school, games which are developed for specific purposes such as teaching proper values and inculcating good habits can be beneficial. Games with elements of violence, profanity and sex, however, should be avoided at all costs.
If uncontrolled and unsupervised, children could indulge in computer and video games excessively. Some games are so engaging that they become addictive and this could affect their health. This is especially true when they snack on junk food while playing, forgoing physical exercise, social and outdoor activities.
The gaming industry, however, has somewhat compensated for this by developing games that require actual physical movement such as dancing, tennis, golf, and bowling.
A popular one is the Nintendo Wii, which provides a handheld device like a TV remote control (cleverly named the Wii-mote!) which works using motion-sensor technology.
When playing tennis for example, you need to literally swing the Wii-mote like how you would a racquet, or for younger children, you need to physically hop or jump over a puddle you see on the screen to earn points.
But too much screen time could still affect a child’s vision. With the child’s eyes focused on the screen with less blinking, this could result in tiredness, irritation and dryness of the eyes. As a result, the eyes may have difficulty focusing, causing blurry vision, fatigue and headaches.
A Japanese researcher, Professor Ryuta Kawashima, revealed that his study using computer imaging of brain activity of children playing Nintendo games proves that they only used parts of the brain that involved vision and movement.
Meanwhile, children who were given an arithmetic exercise adding single-digit numbers continuously for 30 minutes showed brain activity throughout both left and right hemispheres of their frontal lobe, the areas associated with learning, memory, emotion and impulse control.
The gaming industry, of course, disagreed with his findings, saying that the focus of the study is too limited. What about passive TV-viewing, which was not in his scope of study, that used even less of the brain?
It is a fact that we as parents would have a hard time too in getting our children to choose some boring arithmetic activity over something that is truly fun like the Nintendo.
In my opinion, computer gaming, like everything else, is good when pursued in moderation. We should neither give free reign to, nor ban children from computer and video games. It is a positive experience when used with proper control and guidance but could cause problems with excessive use or misuse.
Completely disallowing would also have its repercussions as forbidden fruit could be most tempting and sweet. Parents must find a right balance.
Anna is ‘depriving’ her daughter of Nintendo, much to the girl’s disappointment, as she thinks online and CD-rom games are more than enough for now. Her parenting articles for theSun can be found in http://youmekids.blogspot.com.
